For Good
by Deathcrest
Summary: Because Roy knew him, and because Edward knew him, they have been changed for good. Set in Episode 48.


**Disclaimer**: I do not own FullMetal Alchemist.

Aside from that, the story rights belong to me.

**AN: **_Set in Episode 48 of the first anime. God, that episode was so...heartwarming. __Just some parental/fraternal fluff between Roy and Edward that my heart has always yearned for._

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><p><em>Central<em>

The sun was dimming now, resting against the distant darkness. The orange light burned and glared, the tall winding shadows of the surrounding buildings beginning to widen. The air was calm and quiet, but it wasn't the type of calm that soothed one's spirit. It was a calm before the storm, like the split-second stillness that preceded the deadly attack of a viper.

Roy blinked, his dark eyes trained on the boy—no, man—before him. The short, blond, tawny-eyed hothead that was his subordinate.

They had spoken, said the things that needed to be said between them. They both knew that this night will be the night of reckoning, the judgment day. Both knew that they may not survive the events that may happen. Both had waited for this day for most of their lives; the day that would right their mistakes, their wrongs.

Roy blinked again. His subordinate, Fullmetal, stared at him, waiting.

Was there still more to say? Roy wondered. He had said everything, entrusted Fullmetal with his plans and the boy had not failed him, though he had led Roy into doubt at times. Still, that was expected of Fullmetal.

The boy was a landmine waiting to happen. One moment he'd be the dog of the military he was supposed to be and when Roy turned his back on him for just a second, Fullmetal would be the revered savior of Amestris, the famed Hero of the People, going against all odds, even the military, to do what he thought was right.

The boy was truly a complex puzzle.

As the seconds passed, black eyes against gold ones, Roy thought: Is there still anything to say?

He thought hard. No, there was nothing to say. Of course, Roy could always taunt the kid with his height and that would usually result in an angered Edward Elric, bearing his automail arm on Roy. Roy would then dodge and repel his attacks with his own brand of fire alchemy. They'd be going at their 'little' argument for hours and most often, when it ended, both would be too drained and too tired to fight anymore and would satisfy themselves by throwing snarky remarks at each other.

He remembered the names Fullmetal called him, when the short guy was in his frenzy of rage.

_Colonel Bastard!_

_Colonel Asshole!_

_Jerk!_

_Ass!_

Roy chuckled, causing the small blond to look at him inquisitively. Ever since he met Fullmetal, things had gotten different. Before, Roy Mustang was one of the feared alchemists in Amestris, after hailing from the terrible Ishvallan Genocide as one of the front-line fighters. People knew of him, knew the horrendous might of his fire alchemy and the deaths that it had caused.

When Fullmetal fell into his life, things went upside down. The boy was the first one, his late best friend Maes Hughes excluded, to dare to call him other than 'Colonel Mustang' or 'Sir Mustang'. Rather, the kid had named him the title of Colonel Bastard. That was probably the first of many things that the kid had changed in his life.

Once again, Roy blinked.

The kid really had changed his life.

Without ado, Roy lowered himself until he was on the ground. Arranging his legs, he sat on the street, looking at Fullmetal. The kid, who at first raised a brow, followed him down.

"Why are we sitting down?" He asked, ever curious, always asking questions.

Roy did not answer immediately. He couldn't, because in truth, he didn't know why he had sat. His legs didn't ache and he wasn't tired. Was it…no, it couldn't be.

But, could it? Could it be that Roy wanted to spend a little more time with Fullmetal, with his subordinate who had always been the cause of his headaches and problems at work? Could it be that he cared for Fullmetal more than a superior should for a subordinate? Could it be that Fullmetal was something to him like Edward was to Alphonse?

No, that was just wrong. Simply preposterous.

After all, what kind of brother would he be if he would send his younger sibling to the jaws of death, alone? What kind of brother would send the small, young blond before him into war, into death, into blood and suffering so that he himself may get a chance at the top, to become leader of the world? What kind of brother would he be then?

Roy looked at Fullmetal and stared into his eyes, into the gold eyes of a once innocent child turned soldier. Into the eyes of a kid who used to dream, but is now filled with the grim understanding of life…and of death.

Roy really didn't care much for people. Sure, his subordinates were his friends; his superiors were people he had to appease and the Amestrian population was something he had to protect. But he never really cared for people, the way a father cared for his child, a brother for his twin.

Ever since Fullmetal had entered his life, these feelings had begun to take shape and grow. At first, he felt horrified and disgusted that he was easily distracted by such things. But then, he slowly learned to accept them. Learned to accept the acceleration of his heartbeat and the sweating of his hands when a messenger would arrive and say that the city where Fullmetal was staying at the moment was destroyed; learned to accept the lifting feeling as if a heavy burden on his heart was suddenly gone when news came that Fullmetal had survived; learned to accept the spike of rage and anger when Fullmetal came into the room, limping, bleeding or recuperating.

He had learned to accept these feelings as the emotions a superior felt when his trusted subordinates were in danger. Roy then realized, however, that his feelings ran deeper than that.

When news of the casualties of the Fifth Laboratory Incident had reached his hears, Roy did not feel fear for the boy. He felt horror.

When Maes had told him that Edward was resting and that he was fine, Roy did not feel relief. He felt rapture.

When Edward had come into his office acting as if he had not been nearly killed, Roy did not feel irritation. He felt rage. A protective and desperate rage.

Edward really had changed him. It was as simple as that. The boy had renewed his view on life, and his view on his friends. And when Roy looked up into the boy's eyes, he realized with a sudden knowingness that the boy had been thinking along the same line as he was.

They were thinking of each other, of the things and the emotions and the events that each had brought into one another's lives. Because they knew each other, they had been changed.

When the shadows grew a meter length from where they had once been, Roy slowly stood, dusting off the grit from his pants. When the boy made a move to follow, Roy, without realizing, held out his hand to him.

It was a quiet moment.

A pair of black eyes looked down on his hands, astonished and unsure.

A pair of gold eyes looked up to his hands, surprised…and grateful.

Then, Edward placed his hand on Roy's. The moment his hand came into contact with Roy's, the dark-haired, black-eyed man felt a sudden burst of emotion in his breast. It wasn't anger, it wasn't even joy. No, it was dread. A dread brought on by affection, by protectiveness.

He felt a heavy weight on his heart as he felt Edward's gloved hand in his. For one short moment, Roy looked at his form reflected in the irises of the boy's gold eyes. There was a desperate protectiveness on his face and Roy knew at once why.

He didn't want the boy to go. He didn't want Edward to go into a fight that would probably end in death. The mere thought of Edward dead, eyes no longer alert and passionate, skin so pale and cold to the touch, made the hair on the back of Roy's neck stand on end.

But he had to. Roy knew that, knew it with all his heart. Edward had to do it, had to fight for the things and the people he loved and believed in. Within those chasms of death was Alphonse, Edward's brother, and attaining their goal of finding the Philosopher's Stone was paramount to finally being happy. In order to get their bodies back, to get their lives back, to return to the past happiness they had once felt before the damnation of alchemy had tore their family apart. It wasn't for greed, no. Roy knew that Edward would never be the kind of man to hurt others.

It was for themselves, so that they can finally be at peace in their hearts.

And, like how a good brother should, like how a proud father should, Roy had to let him, let them, go. And when he pulled Edward to his feet, Roy knew he had finally let him go.

They stared at each other, acceptance in both their eyes. Then, Roy laid a hand on his shoulder, on the part that was warm before it met metal, that was warm and whose pulse beat with the life of Edward Elric. He held on to that shoulder, as if realizing that this may be the last time he would ever see, ever hear and ever touch his subordinate—no, his brother…his son…his Edward.

When Edward raised his flesh hand and laid it atop his, Roy knew, they both knew, that they had forgiven each other for their mistakes; accepted each other's role in one another's life and thanked each other for everything they had shared.

Ever since Edward Elric fell into his life…ever since Roy Mustang fell into _his_ life…

Because they knew each other, they have been changed.

For good.

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><p><strong>AN<strong>: _Yes, sappy and emotional and a bit OOC, I know. But I wanted to show a piece of humanity in both of them, that they were still humans who feel and yearn and live like so many others do in a world where life and death were in a race. This story was brought on when I watched __**Wicked, my favorite musical of all time**__, for the first time last week. Too bad I didn't get to see it with the original broadway cast, but the musical was still good. Especially the song "For Good", you can really feel the friendship between the Elphaba and Glinda._

_Funny, though, since I heard the song before I watched the musical many years ago and when I did listen to it, I've always pictured Roy and Edward. Aww. :') I'm getting __emotional. Anyway, read, enjoy and take care! =)_

_P.S. After I watched Wicked, I finally realized that I can now die. Toodles! xD_


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